Folsom Riot finishes season unbeaten

The Folsom Riot, an under-16 girls select soccer team, defeated the Redding Missfit Renegades 1-0 on March 29, silencing a raucous hometown Redding crowd to win the 2009 Association Cup, the premier tournament in Northern California for select teams.
The tournament began March 14 in Redding. The Riot defeated the San Jose Fury 4-0, the Pleasanton Rage Orange 4-0, and the East Diablo United 5-0 to advance to the second round. The following weekend in Ripon, the Riot outscored the Redding Missfit Mayhem 6-0 and the Davis Stars 3-0.
In the semifinals on March 28, the Riot defeated the Folsom Magic, an under-15 team, by a score of 4-1. The Magic was the only team to score on the Riot during the tournament and in an act of sportsmanship, several of the players and parents stayed on to root for the Riot during the championship game.
The Folsom Riot truly had a dream season, going undefeated with a record of 43-0-2. They scored a total of 136 goals with every girl on the team scoring at least one goal and one assist. The team allowed only eight goals all season. They are the 2008 champions of the Folsom Lake Cup Classic Tournament, the Elk Grove Sunstroke, the Dublin Shamrock Invitational, the Mustang Devil Mountain Tournament, the San Francisco Golden Gate Invitational, the Fremont Kick-Or-Treat Invitational, District VI Metro League, and the District IV Challenge Cup.
“The girls worked very hard all year, learning to work together, as well as conditioning and training, and it really paid off,” coach Mike Cino said. “Association Cup is the biggest tournament in Northern California for Class III soccer. I was asked on several occasions if we had peaked yet and my answer was always, ‘The best is yet to come.’ Our girls went out and proved me right, peaking at exactly the right time. Jim and I are so proud to be a part of this amazing group of athletes.”
Coach Jim Lehman agrees.
“It has been an amazing run with a group of girls that have a ‘refuse to lose attitude’ which was never more evident than in the last four games of Association Cup. Down to 13 players, three of which had nagging injuries requiring treatment between games, meant there were only two subs for 80-minute games. They showed great character, effort, determination and heart no matter what obstacle was before them. It was truly a team effort of which Mike and I were lucky to be a part of.”
Members of the team include Beth Balbierz, Taylor Camin, Chelsea Cino, Nicole Donato, Megan Graham, Danielle Keith, Catherine Lehman, Brianna Leiford, Ashley Lemay, Hannah Lindner, Victoria Odufuwa, Taryn Pearson, Jessica Reuter, Ann Seibel, Milla Tiab, and Joanna Turkiewicz.